FORFAR LOCH - THE WITCHES' RING Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

Lorgadh: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.

If you wish to email me please send your email via my profile (click on my name) and quote the cache name and number.

Regards

Karen
Lorgadh - Volunteer UK Reviewer www.geocaching.com
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Hidden : 7/23/2012
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

The cache is located a short distance away from The Witches Ring.

THE WITCHES RING, FORFAR LOCH
 
 
The memorial to the Forfar witches is a drystane "cauldron" on the public footpath around the loch a short distance from the cache.
 
The memorial stone is simply dedicated to the "Forfar Witches", and features 22 dots that represent each of the women who were killed for the "abominable cryme of witchcraft." At the bottom, the legend reads, "Just people".
 
In 1563, the Church of Scotland made witchcraft illegal through an act of parliament that continued until 1736. By then, around 1,500 people had been executed.
 
There were three main witch-hunts, and the last one of 1660-1663, was particularly brutal in Forfar, which then had a population of around 1,000.
 
The town retains some particularly gruesome instruments of that period, in particular the Forfar Bridle – a hinged steel collar with a metal prong to the front which entered the mouth as the collar was fastened around the victim's neck, acting as a gag during the execution.
 
 
One local woman, Helen Guthrie, played a vital role in the Forfar witch-hunt.
 
A self-confessed drunken and wicked woman, she had murdered her own stepsister when they were both children.
 
Helen and her 13-year-old daughter Janet Howat were both accused of being witches, and proceeded to identify more witches as star witness for the prosecutors, telling of drunken midnight parties in Forfar Kirkyard, of women cavorting with the devil and of the desecration of graves.
 
Witches were generally accepted to be poor women or widows on the fringes of respectable, church-going society. They included anyone with knowledge of herbal medicine, or a squint – the evil eye – or who suffered from epilepsy, considered to be possession by the devil.
 
The hapless women were held in Forfar's tolbooth where they were tortured and made to wear vinegar-soaked hair shirts, which pulled the skin off the body, to obtain a confession.
 
Then a swift and perfunctory trial was held, usually ending with a guilty verdict.

The cache is a 35 mm film canister with a log sheet (in plastic bag) and pencil.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Haqre 18

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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